Pharmacies, hospitals, medical clinics, veterinarians, and many industrial or manufacturing operations utilize standard plastic syringes in their operations. These empty syringes can be used for both aspiration (i.e., filling the syringe) and administration (i.e., expelling the contents of the syringe). To aspirate with a syringe, a portion of the plunger stem is grasped between the thumb and the index finger with a pinch grip and the stem and plunger are pulled to the rear. To inject the contents of the syringe, typically the user grasps the syringe barrel between the index finger and the middle finger and pushes on the stem with his thumb. Often these operations are repeated numerous times, as for example during filling or reconstitution of drugs in hundreds of syringes or IV containers in a hospital pharmacy. As another example, syringes may be used to evacuate the lungs of hundreds of test animals in a research laboratory.
Thus, repetitive operations of this nature are common in the medical field such as pharmacies that dispense intravenous drug products, in laboratories that conduct research tests, as well as other diverse industrial and manufacturing operations. The repetitive motion in these operations often leads to repetitive motion injuries such as strained thumbs or carpal tunnel syndrome.
The most accepted alternative to manual manipulation of syringes has been electromechanical pumps. However, in the medical field the pump sets require frequent and expensive set changes. Pumps and pump sets are rarely justified except in high volume, repetitive pharmacy operations.
The present hand grip for use with a syringe has been particularly configured to facilitate efficient and convenient preparation and administration of solutions and samples while minimizing the user's susceptibility to repetitive motion injuries.